Retail industry employment in the US increased by 29,500 jobs in June over May, accounting for over 10% of the total 287,000 job increase – excluding automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants.

“The retail sector serves on the front line of the economy and showed solid job gains that made a strong contribution to the June employment report,” says Jack Kleinhenz, chief economist at National Retail Federation (NRF). “June’s employment gains punctuate other employment data and indicate that economic activity picked up in the second quarter, which is, certainly, a positive step going into the second half of the year.”

While the rate of unemployment has increased from 4.7% to 4.9% despite June’s job growth, on a three-month moving average, retail jobs, calculated by NRF, have increased by 9,700 positions. Since June 2015, the US retail industry has increased payrolls by 241,600 jobs.